ander sent
him as a second present to Sysigambis, to be dealt with, at Susa, as
her revenge might direct. She inflicted upon him the most extreme
tortures, and finally, when satiated with the pleasure of seeing him
suffer, the story is that they chose four very elastic trees, growing
at a little distance from each other, and bent down the tops of them
toward the central point between them. They fastened the exhausted
and dying Bessus to these trees, one limb of his body to each, and
then releasing the stems from their confinement, they flew upward,
tearing the body asunder, each holding its own dissevered portion, as
if in triumph, far over the heads of the multitude assembled to
witness the spectacle.

CHAPTER XI.

DETERIORATION OF CHARACTER.

B.C. 329

Alexander at the summit of his ambition.--Sad changes.--Alexander
becomes dissipated.--His officers became estranged.--Character of
Parmenio.--His services to Alexander.--Parmenio's son, Philotas.--His
dissolute character.--Conspiracies.--Plot of Dymnus.--Dymnus destroys
himself.--Philotas suspected.--The council of officers.--Philotas
accused.--Arrest of Philotas.--The body of Dymnus.--Alexander's
address to the army.--Philotas brought to trial.--Defense of
Philotas.--He is put to the torture.--Confession of Philotas.--He
is stoned to death.--Parmenio condemned to death.--Mission of
Polydamas.--Precautions.--Brutal murder of Parmenio.--Story of
Clitus.--He saves Alexander's life.--Services of Clitus.--Occurrences
at the banquet.--Clitus reproaches Alexander.--Alexander's
rage.--Alexander assassinates Clitus.--His remorse.

Alexander was now twenty-six years of age. He had accomplished fully
the great objects which had been the aim of his ambition. Darius was
dead, and he was himself the undisputed master of all western Asia.
His wealth was almost boundless. His power was supreme over what was,
in his view, the whole known world. But, during the process of rising
to this ascendency, his character was sadly changed. He lost the
simplicity, the temperance, the moderation, and the sense of justice
which characterized his early years. He adopted the dress and the
luxurious manners of the Persians. He lived in the palaces of the
Persian kings, imitating all their state and splendor. He became very
fond of convivial entertainments and of wine, and often drank to
excess. He provided himself a seraglio of three hundred and sixty
young females, in whose company h